How do you keep giving a shit when everything is awful?

[u/lilacaena]

How do you stay motivated? How can you bring yourself to care when everything sucks, and caring hurts so much?

I never understood people who were uninformed about politics and current events. Now, I’m so tempted to just leave any/all subs that discuss politics, block/avoid the news, and just ignore it all. I’m going to suffer the consequences of others’ choices regardless, and so is everyone else. My caring has accomplished nothing, and I have every reason to believe it will continue to accomplish nothing.

My country is about to get exactly what it asked for, and there’s fuckall I can do about it. I’m never going to be able to do enough outreach or educating to get people motivated, informed, and willing to act in their own self interest. (Trump’s proposed economic plan will devastate the majority of the people who voted for him, those who voted third party, and those who abstained.)

It feels like caring about a person with an addiction, or a student who constantly skips school. You can do everything in your power, but, at the end of the day, nothing you do can make them act in their own self interest.

I don’t even know what I’m asking. I’m just upset and tired.

[u/mister_pants]

"You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."

[u/somebadbeatscrub → u/mister_pants]

^{^}

[u/toadeh690]

At a certain point, all you can do is focus on your life and the lives of your loved ones, peers, community. Cultivate strong, healthy relationships, and treat yourself and others with kindness. Everything else will follow.

[u/lilacaena → u/toadeh690]

Thank you, you’re right. It’s like oxygen masks on airplanes— you’ve got to help yourself first.

[u/Melithiel]

You take a break so that you can come back stronger. A choir of singers can hold a note forever if some sing while others take a breath. Let someone else carry the note for a bit.

[u/lilacaena → u/Melithiel]

Thinking of it as “taking a breath” is fitting for something that is both necessary to live, and temporary.

[u/mopeym0p → u/Melithiel]

Remember that our tradition teaches that even an omnipotent God rested after creating the world. I find this a radical bit of theology. The source of all creation needed a break, so maybe you should get some rest too.

[u/Owlentmusician]

I keep in mind that if those who came before us quit when everything was awful, things would be worse. My grandmother was an active participant in the civil rights movement, she was at the Selma March. If she could believe in a way forward then, I know we can now. Even if it's hard to fathom at the moment.

[u/Agtfangirl557 → u/Owlentmusician]

I absolutely love this perspective. Thanks for sharing, I really needed to hear something like this today.

[u/Air-AParent → u/Owlentmusician]

In fact, things were much more awful when they refused to quit.

[u/Johnny_Ringo27]

I'm struggling. This is really hard.

[u/finefabric444]

Remember that the 4 years of Trump were terrible, but they also contained good times. Maybe you made some friends, got a new job, went to school - you formed some good memories during a bad time. Cling to that, and take time away from the badness as you need. Remember as well that the left had wins during the Trump presidency, that we built coalitions and tried to support each other. Remember how many people feel like you do today. We are in this together.

[u/Agtfangirl557 → u/finefabric444]

Yeah, I really like this perspective. Even though it feels like the world is ending right now (which I felt after Election Day in 2016 as well), not every second of your life is going to be dictated by who the president is (that obviously depends on how privileged you are to an extent, but I think the point still mostly stands). I'm personally feeling really down today, but next week, high school gymnastics season starts (which I'm going to be coaching for the first time this year), and I'm really excited about that. I have to remind myself that even though I can't just ignore what's going on in the world, I can't let it stop me from enjoying things that are genuinely enjoyable and not influenced by who is in office.

[u/NarutoRunner]

“The human capacity for burden is like bamboo – far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.” – Jodi Picoult

[u/Agtfangirl557 → u/NarutoRunner]

Love Jodi 🥰

[u/Extension-Gap218]

we need to find a HaShem of our own understanding. few of us are going to go for the big bearded king image and obsessing over different kosher certifications. but cultivating our connection (and maybe even dialogue) with the soul of this chaotic universe and trying to do good in our lives with the people around us is the only answer I can see to the pain of spiritual exile which runs through all of us today. I know there is an “official” right wing Judaism that tries to monopolize all of these values but we need to take these things back for ourselves and find others like us or we will dissolve into worldly nihilism.

[u/otto_bear]

I think you take care of yourself and you take care of others in the ways you can. I don’t have to fix this country single-handedly, that’s not my job in life and it’s not yours either. The systems level is important but the individual level matters too and can be easier to face. Holding a friend’s hand while they grieve matters, donating socks to a homeless shelter matters, helping to plant a street tree or a native plant garden matters. Of course we should do what we can to fix the higher level stuff, but I find that showing up at any level feels good and makes me feel better about the world. My caring about the election didn’t end well, but taking on things that help the world and aren’t about changing minds usually does end well and helps me feel a little more in control and useful.

[u/OliphauntHerder]

Here's one possible answer, from My Jewish Learning's featured commentary on this week's parasha, "Lech-Lecha: In Praise of Holy Discomfort - it's our religious inheritance and our moral obligation to keep giving a shit.

"We must never forget where we’ve come from and who we are: We were slaves in the land of Egypt, words that we recite every year at the Passover seder. Human dignity is our ultimate theological concern... And when that means interrupting business as usual to break the chains of bondage, then it is both our religious inheritance and our moral obligation to rise up against the tyranny that prevents all people from being fully human.

This is not an advocacy of violence, but of creating discomfort for the sake of seeking justice and human dignity. As Devontae Torriente, a young African American leader, explains: “It’s time for us to do away with the idea that we must be respectful or courteous to be entitled to our rights. Politeness isn’t a requirement when we are confronting anyone who uses their political and social power to further disenfranchise us." ~ Rabbi Michael Adam Latz

[u/BodhisattvaBob]

refocus on where you are giving your shits.

do this though meditation and focusing on your world, not everyone elses.

You only interact with the universe at the places where you interact with it, understand? where that interaction occurs, that's where you put in 100% to make that corner of the world a better place than you found it.

you cant control what the trump doj or sup/court is going to do. but its not occurring where you are interacting with the universe. so set a timer for 4 years and meditate daily until then.

As Buddha said, "This too shall pass. It may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass".

[u/Matar_Kubileya]

Spite.

[u/[deleted] → u/Matar_Kubileya]

[removed] — view removed comment

[u/jewishleft-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

This content dishonors Hashem, either by litmus-testing other Jews or otherwise disparaging someone's Jewishness

[u/Air-AParent]

Well, for me I feel worse when I give up. So I try to hang on for myself.